Kobe got 3 rings because he had Shaq and a quality team. If he had Moe Williams, Parker, Jamison and Illgauskas instead while Lebron had prime Shaq his first 5 years in the league we would not even talk about this.

The only thing Kobe has on Lebron is that he was lucky enough to have one of the most dominant centers of all time before he became the man which gave him those 3 rings that people use to put him ahead of Lebron. Because as the man of the team, Kobe has 1 ring more than Lebron and Lebron will be ahead in that department sooner or later.

Lebron is better and had mediocre teams for most of his carrer unlike Kobe, I agree with this. But is plain stupid to say Kobe was just carried by Shaq for three rings. He was a unbelievable scorer and a tenacious defender, and without him no way Shaq would had a three peat. And to be fair, I'm not sure if Lebron or even Jordan would won a FMVP award with prime Shaq in their teams.

If to measure greatness by rings is stupid, to measure by FMVP's is either.